1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to filtering of network application layer resources, such as a resource identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).
2. Description of the Related Art
Networks of general purpose computer systems and specialized devices connected by external communication links are well known and widely used in commerce. The networks often include one or more network devices that facilitate the passage of information between the computer systems and devices. A network node is a network device or computer or specialized device connected by the communication links. An end node is a node that is configured to originate or terminate communications over the network. An intermediate network node facilitates the passage of data between end nodes.
Application layer network resources are data and services available at end nodes and are typically identified for public access using a universal resource identifier (URI). URIs are described at the time of this writing in URIs, URLs, and URNs: Clarifications and Recommendations 1.0, W3C Note, Sep. 21, 2001. This reference is available on the Internet in a URI that indicates file uri-clarification in directory /TR/ at World Wide Web domain w3.org.
Authorities often limit the URIs that may be accessed from network nodes under their administration. For example, parents limit the URIs that their home computers can access to protect their children. Similarly, employers may limit the URIs that can be accessed from the enterprise networks used by their employees. However, current mechanisms to limit URI access are associated with the networks or end nodes of users and not the users themselves. Thus multiple users that use the same end node or enterprise network are often equally restricted from the same URIs.